


Egypt

by dangerousalmon



Series: Travelled [1]
Category: Alex Verus Series - Benedict Jacka
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mermaids, some murder, some ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24692200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dangerousalmon/pseuds/dangerousalmon
Summary: A business trip takes Verus and Morden to the Nile.
Relationships: Morden/Alex Verus
Series: Travelled [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985566
Comments: 12
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This whole fic was inspired by @amaranthical-draws on Tumblr. Her art of Alex and Morden is so beautiful, and I wish that you would all go check it out. She is truly talented.

“We’re going to Egypt.”

It is 2:30 am. It is two in the fucking morning and some fucker has called me. “Some fucker” being Morden.

“Why?” I sound husky to myself, my voice fogged over with sleep.

“Business trip. We’ve been volunteered.” He is wide awake. Wide a fucking wake. What a jackass.

I pull my pillow over me and the phone mumbling, “Go by yourself.”

“The senior council voted for us specifically. Us, meaning you and me.”

“Oh it that what the definition of us is? I hadn’t realized.”

I begin to ready myself for this conversation, rolling up and rubbing my face. The floors are cold this time of year, so I pick up some old socks and shove my feet into them. Morden is chattering away, but I left it on the pillow. I stand and shove him in my pocket. I only take it out and put it to my ear when my tea leaves are in the strainer and the kettle is set to boil. He’s the one to wake me, he gets to deal with the consequences. 

My laptop blinds me when I turn it on, “Okay,” I groan, “I’m awake. What were you saying?”

He grumbles something but otherwise doesn’t complain, “We are going in around 6 hours. And don’t complain about lack of notice because I just got out of the meeting thirty minutes ago.”

“I wasn’t going to,” I lie. “So, the Egyptian government thinks what is in their tomb and why is it important to us?” I prompt, not fully awake to grasp any details in the futures.

“It’s called a pulse, and it opens a door to a shadow realm that is teaming with imbued items the British hid during the Rune War. All of which are supposed to be very powerful.”

“Very powerful, very dangerous, we must get them before anyone else does, whatever. Why do they want us specifically?”

I stand up and take the kettle off the burner before it can whistle. It steams up as I pour it into the pot, fogging up my phone screen. I grab a mug Luna gave me for Christmas last year and pour a big helping. It sloshes all over my hand and the counter as I pick it up. I swear a few times and grab a towel to mop up my mess.

I’m only half-listening to Morden when he says, “Egyptian mages value power and fear over any other country in that region currently. They thought by sending a known dark mage, it would help our status.”

I sit down, opening my email and google. “Yeah, but there is an Us in this, remember?”

“The entire senior council voted for you to come with me. Do you know how rare it is for them to agree on anything? Anyways, they said that you are weak enough to balance me out, but not so much to downplay me. They mentioned there might be puzzles.”

“Fantastic,” I deadpan, though I do wonder what he means by puzzles.

“Could you send me the information?” I ask, hoping for a packing list and a travel period.

He fumbles the phone, “Wait a minute.”

The line goes quiet, and then I can hear people talking. One of them sounds like Onyx. A tired and pissed off Onyx. I don’t pity Morden what-so-ever. But I don’t pity Onyx either. Out of all things I expected being Morden’s liaison to be, receiving late night/early morning phone calls is not one of them. Turns out, when he gets a thought, he is invested. We have a system by now, which is why he is so used to me being a sleep-deprived asshole, and I’m used to him sending me scans of files to read while half asleep. Once I asked him why, and he told me that I am the only Liaison that gives better feedback and ideas when tired than awake. I took it as a compliment.

I turn it on speaker and stuff it in my pyjama pants pocket. I make my way to my couch, where I will be dangerously close to falling asleep. Just enough so that I will be able to pay attention. I sit down, sinking into the leather plush. I cover my shoulders with a blanket, prop my feet up on the table, and put my laptop on my lap. The phone gets propped up on my thigh. My movements must have woken him up, because a sleepy Hermes blinks in beside me, pressing his warm body against my waist. I grab him a blanket as well, all the while absentmindedly scratching him between the ears.

“Verus? Still there?” He comes back, voice a little more strained than before.

“Yeah. The scans?”

“Right. I just have to-,”

“Walk across your huge mansion to your scanner? I could probably take a 15-minute nap while you do that…,”

He snaps with no real anger, “I was going to say change. And no, my office is right next to me.”

I close my eyes, leaning my head back on the cushion, “Work addict.” I accuse softly.

He doesn’t reply, probably too busy taking off his clothes. My eyes grow heavy and I feel myself drifting back to sleep. I can’t stay that way for too long no matter how much I want to. My tea is still by my feet, piping hot. If I don’t drink it, Hermes will, and that is hardly fair.

I reach to my phone and turn down the volume. Four seconds after, Morden uses the scanner, which makes a loud screeching noise. When he is finished, I turn it back up and grab my tea.

“So what’s with the late-night meetings all of a sudden? And aren’t I supposed to be there?”

In the background, I hear tapping noises on his keyboard, and I start to refresh my email feed. There is a little shuffle, but then the noise settles again. I can only hope to imagine he is in a position somewhat of how I am in, relaxed and yet still frustrated.

“It’s diplomatic. Information meetings. Usually, I get a piece of paper, but with the tension in the middle east, we don’t have enough paper to describe the difficulty we are in.”

I hum in agreement, eyes half-lidded.

“How late have you been staying up?” He asks, “Usually you are at least somewhat talkative by now.”

I shake my head and lift my tea to my lips, taking a long pull. The hot liquid burns my throat, but it wakes me up a little bit.

“I’ve been busy. I think I’ve been running on three hours a night for about a month and a half now.”

He clicks his tongue a few times. A new refresh produces my packing list, the schedule, and a helpful information file. I glare at it for a few seconds then close my laptop. Hermes jumps off the couch as I put it and my tea on the table and then spin around, so I’m laying down. He blinks up and lays in the crease between my legs, dozing immediately.

I place my phone on my forehead.

“I’m going,” I yawn, “Back to bed. I’ll set an alarm or something to wake me up by 5.”

“Alright…,” He’s distracted by something and then catches on to what I really said.

“Wait, you wouldn’t mind If I-,”

“Have I minded before?” I retort.

He breathes out impatiently but doesn’t hang up the phone. I fall asleep to him thinking to me and himself out loud. His deep voice lulls me into an exhausted slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

“Oh my god what.” I press the phone to my ear.

We have only been separated for a few hours and he is calling me again. In the middle of the night. Well, not exactly the middle. A little before actually. He went to a meeting and I complained enough on the way there that he excused me early. I went to bed at a beautiful 9 o’clock.

I can almost hear the bastard roll his eyes, “Hello to you too. Do you want to hear about the meeting? It was full of interesting things you would have loved.”

I yawn, turning over and hugging a spare pillow, “Bullshit. Just push the file under my door.”

“If you insist,” I hear a shuffling and look to glimpse some movement on the floor, I yawn again and he says, “Even without the phone, I could hear you yawning. Get up and grab the file. Make some tea. Talk to me.”

“That rhymed.”

“Verus.”

I huff, “Fine.”

I drag myself up and take my time getting there. I still haven’t gotten used to the room the Egyptian government supplied us. It is covered in bold colours and has lots of knick-knacks I could care less about. I wish they would have given me a kitchen or something. Or at least a microwave. I put the electric kettle on and settle into an armchair. The pillow behind my back is scratchy and I grunt as I throw it to the other side of the room. It hits a shelf and knocks a wooden item off and to the floor.

“What was that?” He asks, and I can almost imagine him sitting down in the room next to mine, listening to my banging around.

“Vengeance.”

The kettle boils and I put down the phone to make tea. I practically drag myself to the file. Picking it up is like adding a whole new stack of responsibility on my shoulders. I try to remind myself that this could be seen as a vacation. But then Morden’s voice sounds over the receiver and I know that no sane person would ever bring their boss on a vacation.

“So, what do you think?” He sounds…. Excited.

I put the phone on speaker and take a loud slurp of my tea. In the piss-yellow of the lamp next to me, reading the file kills my eyes. I look up blearily across the room to my suitcase and sigh. My glasses are still in there. Whatever.

There is a shuffling noise, “Verus?”

“Mmn.”

“Are you reading it?”

I roll my eyes, “What do you think?”

“It’s late. Are you wearing your glasses?”

I don’t answer. The file became all too interesting when it read, ‘Complex puzzles’ and ‘political strife’ and ‘river nymphs’.

“Oh god,” I groaned.

A trickling laugh meets my ear and all the hair on my arms stands up. I can hear a creak from the other room and I imagine him as he paces next to his bed, gesturing in quick movement as he talks.

“I had the same reaction. I wish you would have been there, I would have loved to see your reaction when they tried to explain it. No doubt they would have been talked to death…”

“They still might be… the bastards. They would keep the pulse if they could- they just want us to solve their mess.”

“It’s rather brilliant, isn’t it?”

“No- it’s shit. Because we are the ones cleaning it up.”

I lean my head against the wall and yawn, the phone slips off my shoulder and into my lap. I don’t have the heart to pick it up.

“Verus.”

“What more do you want from me?”

“Talk to me.”

“I have nothing to say. I am pissed.”

“I know,” His smirk is clear through his voice, “You are an open book like this.”

“I wonder what I would be like intoxicated…” I drawl off, getting lost in the document again.

He hums and says, “I don’t know if I want to know. So, what do you think?”

“The Nymphs and the mages have been at war for years, so why try to make an alliance now? I can’t help but wonder that if they can’t open their own tomb, what is inside must be of some importance. They aren’t telling us the whole truth here, and we both know it,” I pause, biting my lip, “What do they get from this?” 

“Those were vaguely answered in the meeting?” 

I snap, “Why do you think I am asking them?”

Morden scoffs, I hear movement in the other room. If I asked what he was doing he would say getting ready for bed, but I know him well enough to know that he won’t be in bed until the early light in the morning hits the sky.

“I don’t know what the Nymphs get, but we get a hundred years worth of imbued items if we fix this little political mess. I get to end,” He sighs, “This war. You’ll be opening the door. Then the council can work on accessing the shadow realm and so on,” He pauses and hums then adds, “The mages were very insistent that we fix the river-crossing problem.” 

I sink into the chair and toss the file on the floor, “Yes, better for all of us to fix it.”

“Hm. Not what I was expecting you to say.” Which is Morden’s way of saying, _You surprised me._

“Nymphs are sensitive to magical signatures. The ban on mages crossing the Nile has been amazingly violent. Nymphs don’t care how strong you are, if you have magic, they kill you. An old friend of mine bit the dust because he thought he was safe as a sensitive. Poor fucker.”

“That… wasn’t what I was expecting you to say either. How do you know about this?”

I shrug, like he could see me. “When I ran the shop I had-,” I release a jaw cracking yawn, “Lots of contacts. For trading and things like that. Sometimes we would actually begin to seem like friends. Egypt is popular for its rock foci, so I made contacts and chatted I suppose.”

“Perhaps you could find some of these contacts for outsider sources?”

My heart sunk a little, “Most, if not all of them are… gone now. Being a trader is dangerous, hence my shop burning down.”

His breathing is soft and so is his voice, “It didn’t burn down because you were a trader.”

I don’t bother to reply to that.

“Go to bed, Verus. And- um… take tomorrow to get yourself familiar with the city. I can deal with the meetings.”

Some words feel thick on my tongue when saying them. “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” have always been some of the hardest.

“Okay,” I say, and then, “Night.”


	3. Chapter 3

It's different than I expected. Though, I am not sure what I was expecting.

I look out at the city and the dazzling sunset behind it. I can see the edge of the Nile, if I squinted I wonder if I could see the market I was in today. It was bustling, under the sun at its peak. I had a creamy white scarf wrapped around my neck and a tunic that fit a bit too snug over my shoulders and torso. I drew no attention, which was my hope. I hadn’t been expecting anything but in my divination, I spotted it- and knew that it was a second chance. A long scarf- more like a thin blanket- that was a dark blue, almost a black. It was speckled with white dots that looked like stars. That must have been the reason no one bought it. In a place as hot as this, dark colours aren’t popular.

I bought it and scrammed. I got to a somewhat secluded nook in between two houses and slipped my scarf off and that one on. It fit nearly as well as my last one did. The spell settled over me, and it felt me up. The bond was instant.

I shift on the hard rock and lean back onto my back, to look at the stars. In the city, the lights stop anyone from seeing stars, but upon Gisa a few are visible. I consider sleeping up here, but my phone vibrates and I know I have to go back to Morden soon. Odd to think that I would leave something like this just to speak with him. Perhaps If I found another scarf I would take him here. Just to banter in a new scene.

I pull it out of my pocket and squint as I turn it on. A text.

**_Where are you?_ **

_ Laying on a pyramid. _

Lying isn’t worth it with Morden. Not anymore. The last time I lied, it bit me in the ass- and hurt my friends. Funny enough, honesty has gotten me farther with dark mages then lying ever has.

A few seconds later he replies.

**_Funny. Where are you?_ **

_ Gisa. Seriously. _

I can’t picture him laughing, but I can see him sighing with a smile pulling at his lips.

**_Need me to bring tea?_ **

_ I would like to see you try to get up here. _

**_Try me. There are things we need to discuss. Our conversation from last night must continue._ **

_ Call me. _

**_No- new developments. This is important._ **

_ Be back in five. _

For extra measure I added,  _ DON’T CLIMB A PYRAMID. _

I saunter into my room to deposit my scarfs in my suitcase and exchange my shirt for a comfy one. As I take it off half way, a knock sounds at the door. I hesitate a moment, then shrug and pull it off.

“It’s open!”

Morden sees me in all my glory and pauses, “Should I come back later?”

“Nothing you haven’t seen before. What did you want to tell me?”

He comes in and perches at the edge of one of the chairs. The pillow is at the base of his back. He nudges it to the side with a small sneer. I pull on a random shirt.

“We’ve been granted access. We are meeting the Nymphs tomorrow. The only problem is- well- we may have to do something dangerous.”

“You got to be fucking kidding me.”

He chuckles, and I have to look away. Talking on the phone is so much easier than this. Seeing his face is too weird.

“No. The government has supplied us with a tonic. It will give us the ability to breathe underwater for a week.”

“First, it’s just a potion. Second, is there a way to reverse the effects?”

“No.”

“So what you are saying is that once we drink this, we will be stuck in the Nile for a week?”

“Yes. And that’s not all, we can’t take it again for several months. We cannot afford to make any mistakes. You get the pulse-,”

“You fix the politics-,”

“Get on land and-,”

“Get our arses back to London.”

I find myself sharing a smile with him. It gets weird after a few seconds, and he stands.

“I shall take my leave. Will you be awake late this evening?”

His code for asking if he can call me if anything comes up. Not that it matters. The bastard will call even if I am asleep. And like always, I will answer.

“Most likely. I found an old friend today and I am going to meet her later. I hope she will have intel on this.”

His brows lower, “I see. Well- call me if anything happens. See you in the morning.”

“See you.”

-

“Verus, it’s been a while. Heard your shop bit the dust, eh?”

I roll my eyes and take a seat at the table. The café is in the high tourist area, and lots of folks are coming in and out. We are seated next to the window overlooking the street, a perfect place to host a stakeout. With that thought, I check the future conversations. Within several seconds I figure out her motive- she has always been to the point. I sigh, I should have known she would want something from me in return, that’s just like her.

“Mave, I thought that we could just have a friendly chat.”

Her earrings glitter as she shakes her head, “You know that’s not how I work.”

“I wish it was,” I mutter.

The waitress delivers our drinks, and then we get down to the point of the conversation.

Mave leans in to speak, and I find myself being drawn back into my old ways of thinking. I shake my head and pull my eyes up off her lips.

“There is an adept boy in that building, see it?”

I turn to look where she is pointing. It is a three-storey, industrial building. It looks to house a digital company. The lights are on, but the shutters are pulled firmly down over the windows. There is a man sleeping outside on the walk. If I try to get into the building he will turn me to ash.

“Yes, I do. And I suppose that is their guard?”

“Good eye, Verus,” She flashes me a grin that I find myself returning, “The adepts name is Hassan Abadi, he is a refugee from Syria. On his way to Europe, he was taken by mage slave traders. Poor luck for him. I need you to get him out.”

“Why?”

“You can find that out when he is in front of me.”

She sees my hesitation. Her hand subtly touches my thigh and she tilts her head, “It will be worth it, Verus.”

Swallowing, I intertwine my fingers with hers, “But first- you will tell me more information about this pulse. And the Nymphs.”

“No, no. You do this for me. And I will get you what you want.”

I remember the last time she said something like that.

“Give me something to go on, Mave. Tell me one thing, then I will go on your quest.”

She gives my hand one squeeze, then retreats and stands. I shiver at the sudden cold without her hand under mine.

“Get him to me, Verus. I will be waiting at our old meeting place.”

The door clatters shut behind her, and I am left staring across the street. 


	4. Chapter 4

I take down the guard with a kick to the face, which if the street wasn’t getting quieter by the minute may have gotten me caught. I don’t go in the front door, but instead, get a good grip on a gutter and start a nervous climb. If Mave had given me any notice, I would have gotten my new mist cloak. I tug a dark window open and slip inside.

It looks to be like a storage closet. Big metal shelves are on both sides, and I can see the boxes full of computer parts becoming useful projectile weapons. I take note of it and sit down, starting to path walk around the building.

Most of the rooms are small, like the one I am in now, and every so often I will find a person in a cage or a guard standing in front. Things that would make any normal human raise a brow. The guards are armed with guns and magic, most of them seem to be adepts or just very reluctant mages. I grin, not feeling so reluctant myself.

I have almost gotten caught several times, just trying to get to the staff kitchen. None of these people seem to have life sight, or I would be dead already. With that thought, the urgency of this whole thing grows. I get to the staff room and meet the back of another guard. I sweep his legs out from under him and punch him twice in the nose, leaving him unconscious. The hardest part is dragging him out of sight. I open a couple of cupboards and find what I was looking for.

A fork is a very powerful weapon, especially if you aren’t trying to be lethal. They hurt like a bitch and are excellent distractions. I learned this through passive-aggressive dinner nights at Richards house when I was an apprentice. Tobruk got many scars and I practiced my aim. I grab the small bin full of forks, and for extra measure, I take a couple of knives as well.

The only downside of having a bin full is that they aren’t exactly quiet. I know I can’t just get Hassan, that I have to free all of these other people too. But if I do that, the attention drawn to me will be much higher.

Another gentleman comes into the staff room and I whip a fork into his cheek. He scrambles for his gun holster, but by the time he does I have given him a taste of my delicious elbow. He goes with his other unconscious friend in the closet.

I stalk around the halls, opening doors and cages, giving hushed orders to scared prisoners. Most of them take my word and go to the nearest window, others try to follow me around. And then there's this guy. 

I free him as fast as I can, but I still got caught by a team of men. These ones are very unhappy to see me, I think they may have found traces of my presence already. There are shots fired, and I dive behind a door for cover. A mage starts to spray boiling hot water all over the floor, which goes right through my shoes. That pisses me off more than I expected.

Before I can do anything about it, the guy I had freed stands from his spot- completely unchained- and throws a dark, tendril-like magic across the room. All of the men turn on each other. It isn’t a pretty sight.

I peak out when it is over, crunching up my nose at the smell of the fresh blood. He looks back at me, and almost seems nervous as he motioned for me to follow. We step around the bodies as we make our way into the hall.

“We have to be careful,” I tell him, “There are guards everywhere.”

He runs a hand over his bald head and shrugs, “No, not anymore.” His accent is thick, but I can’t place it. Most of the people I have freed have had unintelligible language, but I still made attempts to show them the way out without compromising myself.

I shake my head, then in my divinations, I catch the last bit of two guards fighting. My god, this guy made all the guards kill each other. Every single one of them. I can’t think of a single magic that is that powerful- not even Mordens.

I swallow, feeling the familiar fear start to rise in my chest. “There are still more people that I have to help… The exit won’t be hard to find now. Thanks for your… help.”

I head off at a light jog, and it is only until after I have led a group of ladies to an exit do I realize that he has been following me. His dark eyes follow my body like a predator watching prey. It makes my skin crawl.

Once I am sure the building is clear, I turn to the man with reluctance.

“Hassan?”

He nods once. Straight down to business.

“Mave sent me to get you.”

“I know.”

We don’t say anything else until we are a couple of blocks away. It’s then when the adrenaline starts to wear off, and my injuries start to show. The cuts on my knuckles and arms begin to burn in the night air, and my feet feel like they are two huge blisters. I think I may have gotten shot- of maybe grazed- on my leg, but all I have to go on is that there is a lot of blood dripping down my left leg.

Hassan at least pulls open the warehouse door for me. Mave is sitting in a folding chair, drinking tea and reading a magazine. Her pants have ridden up to reveal her smooth skin and her blouse clings to her breasts and shoulders. I notice these things despite my better judgement- and despite our past history I want to crawl into her lap and sleep against her.

Hassan is unfortunately still here.

She looks up from her reading and glances at Hassan, and then me. “Well done, Verus.”

“Will you tell me what this is all about now?” I ask.

“Oh right- that,” She preens, and then reaches down behind her chair.

I only get a split-second warning before she pulls the gun out and shoots Hassan in the head. The blood sprays upon my face and chest and splatters into my gaping mouth.

I can only whisper. “Why?”

She looks sincere as she takes in my expression, and her smile fades into a frown. “He may have been an adept- but he was too powerful to go on. He killed many, many innocent people-  _ good _ people. In Europe…. Well, you know it firsthand. In Britain, do you think he would have just led a normal life?”

I couldn’t find it in myself to answer.

“Anyway,” She stands and walks over to me, passing me a handkerchief as she says, “A distant connection of mine has told me that what’s behind that door will not only change the tides for everyone in Egypt- it may change the whole middle east. He mentioned that it's nearly ripping the underwater world apart. They still want it badly- badly enough to forgive the government for what they did and let go of your precious items.”

“What did they do?”

The blood doesn’t really come off, it just smears.

“I’m surprised you don’t know. They were taking nymphs as slaves. Not to mention polluting the river.”

“I.. I see. Is that all?”

“Yes.”

I turn and walk away, starting to look forward to seeing my bed again when she puts a hand on mine.

“Verus… You understand why I did it, don’t you? You don’t hate me?” I don’t have to turn around to see the pain on her face.

“I have seen many people do many things.” Which isn’t exactly an answer. She notices, but I think she understands anyway.

She nods once, then slips something into my pocket and gives my hand a final squeeze before we go our separate ways. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Hullo?”

“Hi. Sorry, were you asleep?”

“Yes, it’s the middle of the night. What are you doing awake?”

“Just wanted to check in, see if everything is okay.”

“You never check-in… what's happening over there?”

“Nothing. Just y’know, getting comfortable with the city.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, London is London. Anne is still making pies every day and Vari has taken up the guitar again. I’ve been- well. I don’t know. I thought about taking the painting class with Vari, but it seems kinda lame.”

“That sounds nice, you should do it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think you could paint me a killer nude.”

“Alex!”

“Sorry.”

“Hmpf. Maybe I will, just to prove you wrong.”

“I’m never wrong.”

“You’re insufferable. I’m hanging up now.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

I pull the phone away just in time to see Luna’s picture flash off the screen. I click it off and slip it back in my pocket, fiddling with the little white card engraved with Mave’s number. It could be useful, but I don’t think that is why she gave it to me. I haven’t lain with anyone for a while, but I think she would understand if my skills are rusty.

I don’t have enough nerve- or time- to call her now, but maybe someday. I slip it into the back of my phone case and will myself to forget about it.

Morden strolls up behind me and places two hands on either side of my shoulders. The bench is already giving me splinters through my clothes, I have no idea how he could stand to touch it with his bare hands. He leans over me, and I can feel his body heat radiating off his chest.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?” He gestures down the street, which grants us a view of the busy lights and traffic of a main square.

I let my eyes unfocus. The whole thing looks like an abstract painting. I lean back fully, my hair brushing the fabric of his suit. He doesn’t move away.

He taps my shoulder lightly, “Let's get back to the hotel.”

“Finally,” I whisper, “You made me wait a whole half an hour.”

He smirks, “Well I wasn’t expecting you to call. Most of the time I have to fight tooth and nail to get you to talk to me this late.”

I roll my eyes and stand, “It’s not like you were going to sleep any time soon.”

“Oh? And how might you know?” He leads us down the street, walking too fast for my aching feet.

“As well as you know me, I know you,” I reply absentmindedly, paying more attention to the squishing sounds of my shoes on the pavement.

“And how might that be?”

“You drink tea all day round but coffee only on the days you really need it, and when you do drink coffee it is with a lot of sugar. When you are thinking you touch your cufflinks. On the days you get no sleep you have naps in your office,” He stops and turns around, staring at me with a raised brow.

I shrug, “You get to know someone as their aid. It doesn’t help that I am a diviner.”

He rolls his eyes and we continue on behind a building.

“Do you- uh- mind?”

Morden isn’t one to stutter. Or hesitate. He is ruthless and horrid and I can’t help but respect that. Of course, I have no idea why he would think I would mind if he opened a gate here or not, I really just want to get to bed.

“No? No one’s around so it should be safe. Then again I don’t think they have strict laws on magic here.”

He turns again and gives me a once over, “You must be exhausted if you thought that’s what I was talking about. What did you and your old friend get up to? Was there any useful information?”

The gate opens and he waves me in through first.

“She told me that the pulse isn’t the only thing in the realm. And that the nymphs want it badly enough to forgive even the worst of the government.”

He must have sensed something in my voice because he didn’t implore any further into that topic. We walk to our rooms side by side, the hotel is eerily quiet at this time of night. Besides the squish of my shoes and the whirr of the air conditioning, everything else has a heavy, sleep aura.

I bid him goodnight then slip into my room without looking back.


	6. Chapter 6

“Are we even ready for this?” I mutter into the receiver as I fold up the remainder of my pants and stuff them into my suitcase.

“Good question,” His voice is muffled as he too is packing up his things, “I doubt we are. The information we have is scarce and judging by what your friend told you, everyone seems to have their own motive here.”

Ugh, everyone just has to be a bastard and make things difficult for me. Of course. All I want is a week off, with some tea, a book, and Hermes on my lap but no. That is such a difficult request that I couldn’t possibly get it. Instead, I am sent to Egypt. I got barely a handful of sleep last night, despite my exhaustion from Mave’s little quest, and my feet are still killing me. What a load of fuckery.

I zip up my case and throw it to the floor, perhaps a little too roughly.

Morden makes a noise over the phone and asks, “Anything the matter, Verus?”

“I’m god damn exhausted.”

“Aren’t you always?”

“Yes. And I am really pissed off about it.”

I can sense a smirk full of amusement. I fall back onto my bed and give my worst sneer to the wall, hoping that he can hear the unfriendly words I am thinking at him.

He seems to.

“Well- we shall meet at Tahrir Square at 7. Afterwards, we are going to be moved to the  Mogamma El Tahrir , where I will be the first British dark mage politician to be taken below and into their headquarters.”

“Well don’t you just sound pleased.”

“I am, actually. Hardly any Councilmen or representatives have been in the middle east ever since the Arab Spring. Things have been complicated for both sides. Ever since the Hautes Cours in France made the decision to outlaw mages gating refugees into their country other countries have been following suit. Austria and Hungary are two to name. Sweden, Germany, and Canada are fighting against the laws- and are actually welcoming it.”

I interject, “But those countries actually care about slave trading, and if I am not mistaken have laws about that sort of thing. Not like us, where our government just lets people hurt whomever we want…”

I’m not bitter at all.

“Yes- they do try. And I agree our policies are not the best. I am working- nevermind lets not get off-topic. To conclude things have been-,”

“Complicated?” I finish for him.

He sighs, “Very. I will see you at 7.”

“Goodbye.”

I toy with having a nap for the next two hours, but my stomach rumbling forces me to get up from the bed and go find breakfast.

-

“It’s always awkward when you see someone before you’re supposed to,” I whisper into my tea as Morden gets into the queue.

He glances down sideways at me, not knowing I can see him through the reflection on a glass cupboard. He looks different when he thinks I’m not watching. Not softer, per say, but less formal. Maybe even a little tired.

A few minutes go by, and I continue to blow on my tea, the steam fogging up my glasses. I take them off and lay them on top of my closed book, waiting for Morden to finish with his order.

“You seem less angry than you were this morning.”

“An astute observation, Morden. I am always so dazzled by your incredible skills.”

“Ah- there is the daily sarcasm. I was waiting for it,” We both take synchronized sips, “It’s the tea.”

I don’t give that a response.

He continues, “You get rather docile when someone gives you tea. You curse less too.”

“How might you know?”

He smirks, “As much as you know me, I know you.”

-

The inside of Mogamma El Tahrir is exactly as the photos depict. It’s loud, bustling, and has random chairs almost everywhere. What shocks me the most, is the abundance of mages and adepts. I can see more of them than normals, and Morden and I aren’t even into the headquarters yet.

We take an elevator down and then walk through a series of hallways until we reach a gold-plated door. If I look closely I would be able to see cats carved into it. Morden and I wait as our guide opens it, and we trail him inside.

If Mogamma El Tahrir is modern, then the Egyptian headquarters are ancient.

A man that made Morden look shabby comes up to us and shakes Morden’s hand. He ignores me, which doesn’t piss me off at all.

“Good day, Councillor. I shall be leading you to the entrance to the river. There you will get the potion. We have supplied you two of them, of which your slave will drink the first- so we can demonstrate to you how it works.”

I decide that glaring daggers at him may be a bit too much. Even if I really want to. The customs here are different, but that doesn’t mean he can assume I am a- his-  _ slave.  _ I swallow the lump in my throat and my rage, deciding to stare at a group of people in bright colours talking.

“I can assure you that it is a painless transition- and is fascinating to observe. Your slave will be flushed through a series of pipes and dumped into the Nile. You shall be allowed to swim through a tunnel we have dug specifically for the most important guests. If you do not trust that your slave will be safe, we can supply you a collar-,”

“I didn’t catch your name,” Morden interrupts.

“Ah, apologizes,” He gives a slight bow, “I am Kin.”

Morden gives a bland smile and steps towards him, “Kin, If you suggest one more time that my  _ associate  _ Mage Verus, is anything but equal to me then I will see to it that you are fired. He is my aid and you will treat him as you treat me,” Kin tries to talk again, and Morden growls, “Stop talking, and take us to the river.”

I wouldn’t call it gaping- but what I’m doing is damn close. Morden doesn’t look at me as Kin turns around and quietly leads us further into the chambers.

-

Well- this is shit.

It’s pink and has the texture of molasses. Like bubble tea, it has small black orbs floating around that I swear have eyes. I think I saw one wink at me.

I shift in the seat I have been put in, only slightly uncomfortable at the fact that I am completely naked. It would have helped if they warmed the seat up before forcing me to put my ass on it. The noise I made was inhuman.

I look down at the water tank they have set up and work my jaw. It looks shallow. I worry less about if it will be big enough for me and more about the temperature. If this isn’t warm I am going to file some serious complaints. I look up a final time at Morden, who is sitting above me, in a nice glass box. His brows are pulled together and he’s frowning. He’s probably expecting me to back out.

I down the drink in three gulps.

And then the chair falls out from under me.

And the air is ripped from my lungs.

And with a final clank, the roof slides shut and I am in darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

I would never say it, but Morden makes an incredible mermaid.

The first thing I saw was his back. The light caught the scales there, and his pale skin peeking through seemed so shallow compared to the impossible depths of the purples and blacks. The scales continued down, where his butt was supposed to be is the start of the tail. The scales get more condensed, no more skin shining through. He has fins halfway down- apparently to help with balance while swimming, I have some too- but the main attraction to him is at the end of the tail. I can’t tear my eyes away from his end fin. The only way I could describe it is if a child took every purple known to man, smeared in on some paper, and then dumped glitter on the whole thing; that’s what he looks like.

He turns to me, showing me a rare smile. Instead of ears, he has…. Fins? Flaps? I am not sure. His chest isn’t like I expected, he doesn’t have hard, visible muscle. It is lean and agile, like a whip. Of course, I may be mistaken; the red gills on his sides may be obscuring my view.

“You look distracted.” He says.

My eyes snap to him. I want to ask how he said that.

He smirks, “Now you look perplexed.”

His ear-flaps stick up and start to vibrate. Or maybe do a dance. They swish. Whatever.

I close my eyes and focus on my flaps.

“Hello?” I try.

I peek open an eye and he is staring at me. His eyes are wide as he looks at the sides of my head. I grin.

“So it worked?” I try again.

“Yes, it worked.” He jerks too close, examining me. He may look agile, but he certainly isn’t.

I swim up and do a little spin, “I think we are talking mentally- or perhaps through vibrations? I am not certain. It seems dependent on our fla-ears.

He follows me, “Seems to be.”

I do a flip backwards and flash a smile at him, “When do you think the nymph guides are going to get here?”

He shakes his head, “They’re scheduled to arrive at 10. However, Kin said they may keep us waiting.”

I nod and continue to swim, hoping he doesn’t move again so I can test how far this communication goes.

“How was your trip through the  _ special tunnel?” _

He rolls his eyes, “It was fine, a tad boring. I still don’t see why they made you go through pipes.”

“It wasn’t so bad, I got to see some fish. And I got to practice swimming. Aren’t I good at it?”

I do a lop-sided spin and hang upside down for a few moments. Just to prove how much better I am than him.

He stares at me again and swallows, “Yes. You are well…trained.”

Before I could get out a witty- mildly inappropriate reply, a group of much mermaidier mermaids appear in my vision. They look like us, but are all scale with sharper features. I find myself drawn to them, and without warning I am swimming towards them.

Morden reaches out and grabs my arm. I shake my head, I try to convey why I want  _ no need  _ to go to them, but I cannot. I reach out with one hand towards them, and he grabs that one too. Both my wrists are clasped in his hands, the warmth of him almost bringing me back to myself.

“Verus. The document. You read it, yes? Nymphs are like enchanters.” His eyes hold mine firmly as he reminds me.

I nod and he lets go of one hand, but keeps my forearm firm in his grip. My head is clouded, fogged. I recognize the magic but even so, it is hard to shake away. Morden’s grasp is the only thing that is stopping me from making a fool of myself. I look to him and find his eyes already on me.

“Councilor, Morden, you and your radie altanin will go to the tomb now.” I can’t tell which one speaks, but I know that the three in the back are the leaders. The other nymphs surrounding them move behind us and beside us. I decide to ignore the pet name, or whatever that was for now.

It’s a fight to not be calm. If I was in the usual circumstances, surrounded by powerful beings, I would be looking for every way to escape. Now I am fighting the urge to crawl into the angry turquoise nymph’s arms beside me. Or worse, melt into Morden and take a nap. At least I know I might survive one of the two… and die of humiliation from the other.

We were led to the door, as promised. I tried not to stick to Morden’s side like a lost puppy.

As the guards disappeared the magic they had on me started to fade a small amount. I mentioned this to Morden, who shook his head and squeezed my arm again. Two of three of the leaders dropped away, and left us with a deep blue specimen, with a mouth cut ear to ear. I shiver as I divine how many teeth that mouth holds.

“We will be your liaisons to our regents. Our word is law and if it is not followed you may be terminated. You have one week to open and retrieve only your items. You will follow our rules.”

Morden nods, “Thus were the agreed-upon terms. As were mine.”

The nymph doesn’t need a face to look perplexed, “You have no terms.”

Morden smirks, “It was written in the fine print of the contract. My co-worker and I will be given a place to rest and to work. We will also be given an audience with the regents.”

I tried not to snort. I tried.

“Perhaps,” It responds, and then leaves us to ourselves.

Morden lets go of my arm and we turn to the door together, “Verus, don’t do anything stupid.”

“What counts as stupid?”

He sighs and stares ahead, but I can see him relax a little. I stare at him, and he must sense it.

“I am… thinking,” He touches each wrist briefly before he notices that there is nothing to fiddle with there.

“Don’t worry,” I try to be breezy even though something about this place doesn’t sit right, “You are here for the politics, leave the Pulse to me.”

He smirks, “How long do you think you will need?”

I settle in and close my eyes, “We’ll see.” 


	8. Chapter 8

Whoever thought creating this stupid got damn hunk of ore and then calling it a damn door is an idiot through and through. After hours of divining I took a break and turned to maths instead. It took me less than half an hour to find out why none of my divinations were working, which resulted in the following conversation. A conversation that has been playing back repeatedly in my head for a better part of the time I have been trying to get to sleep.

I had put my head in my hands and then turned back to the magical equivalent of a whiteboard.

Morden had noticed, and he stopped his politicking with the liaisons to chat with me.

“I am guessing there are complications.”

“Complications is a nice way of saying it. This is a fucking nightmare. If I did this right then that means this damn door weighs  _ three hundred and one-twenty kilograms. _ That’s like, three hundred of you. God, I hope I am wrong, this is hell.”

Morden peaked over my shoulder to look at my chicken-scratch writing. A few seconds passed and he looked back at me with a sincere smile, “Well done, you did it correctly.”

I frowned, “And how might you know? You are probably just as good at maths as I am.”

“No, I got quite good at it when getting my Ph.D.”

One day when I am not tired I want to ask him how he says important things without making them sound important. One day. Today is the day I stood and gaped.

“You- you have a degree?”

“Yes, I have several of those too.”

What really was on my mind was,  _ how old are you really?  _ Or  _ When did you find the time?  _ Or even  _ Why did you bother when you have magic already? _

What really came out was, “Ugh um- uhh? Where?”

“Oxford once. Harvard another. I went to Hamburg for a while as I was networking,” He shrugged, “I haven’t kept track of the small schools but there have been at least several dozen.”

My mind couldn’t even wrap itself around this little discovery. For a moment I must have just stared at him looking like the dork I was. In the end, I just ended up nodding and turning back to my work.

I mean, what can I do with the grand realization that Morden, a powerful dark mage and councilman, is a huge fucking nerd? 


	9. Chapter 9

It’s weird waking up and not laying down. They didn’t give us beds, but pods. I never know what direction I am facing. What’s worse is, my pod is a bit too small for me, so I have to bend my tail nearly in half to squeeze in. Though, with the look on one of the liaison's faces (His name is Labrador) (he didn’t get my dog joke) (or my Canada joke) I am beginning to think they did it on purpose.

I crawl out and shake myself out. They have some sort of time system here- it looks like a metronome- but I can’t read it. Morden seems proficient, however. Instead, I just look up and focus.

The world seems to know how deep the Nile is, and up until a decade ago I had thought the same thing. Until I met Mave and Sazli, who told me that it is actually four times deeper than that. They said they were just estimating, but from what I have seen they were right. The Nymphs have impressive illusion magic to keep human eyes away. 

My whole body shivers and I squint through the waters. It looks like it’s night and I feel like shit, so I shrug and go back to the room with the door.

Surprisingly, the Nymphs did not take my ideas well. They were less than keen for me to suggest a bulldozer, a crane, or any number of tools that could disassemble this monstrosity. Sure, the door has protection wards, but the main reason no one could open it is that it's fucking heavy.

I swim up to it and put my hand against it, thinking that maybe if only I said the right thing it would open.

“Open up you stupid door.”

It stays stupid and I stay frustrated.

The only progress I have made on the door is disassembling a simple locking mechanism on the side, it took a little over an hour without my proper materials. It felt like something, but then I came against the biggest obstacle yet.

I’ve been here for a little over a day, and I still haven’t been able to explore. Or talk to anyone. The liaisons have been keeping a firm grip on us, and Morden’s been keeping a firm grip on me. If I could get away from them for a moment, I could find out what Mave was talking about.

If the Pulse is what they are willing to give up, then what are they going to gain? Besides a lot of gold because I am ready to take a damn chainsaw to this door.

The river started to wake up with the sun and I gave up on my divinations in exchange for a quick swim.

The good thing about being Morden’s- whatever they called me on the first day is that they expect me to follow his rules. And he said that I was to stay where the nymphs wanted me to stay.

I swim out of the walled-off section where the doors and our rooms are. There are nymphs out and about, most don’t give me a second glance. At first, all I can see is open water. I stick close to the ground and spot a ledge in front of me.

If I had breath it would be gone. In front of me, a cliff drops and the river floor sweeps down until the other side. In the bowl-like gap between the walls, there is a city.

If a normal ever saw this, they would call it Atlantis or Eldorado. But while Atlantis is green and is above ground, and Eldorado is actually made of copper and beige, this is pure gold.

The lights all fade together, creating a whirlwind of warm yellows and oranges. I blink away and focus, to see that the buildings are perfect rectangles, and connected to the ground with massive golden chains. As if a hook is caught in my stomach, I begin to swim towards the gilded city.

The pull brings me through busy waterways, filled to the gills with nymphs. The strange thing is, we are all swimming in the same direction. I choke when I see a few other mermaids like me, but most of them are stuck behind shop windows with what I can only describe as dog collars around their necks. I blink the images away and continue swimming with the crowd.

We end up at what looks to be the city square. It is encircled by waterways and more floating shops. In the middle of the circle is a grotesque stage.

All of the crowd comes to a stop at once, and I find myself in the back of the audience. My stomach plummets as I realize what I have stumbled upon. I glance downwards at dozens of children next to me and swallow. As much as I want to leave and go back to Morden, something in my chest keeps me weighted here.

A group of nymphs come on stage, leading by the collar two other nymphs. When they begin to speak, I can’t understand what they say. I don’t need to. I didn’t hear the order of my execution, but the air hangs the same way.

One nymph which looks to be a girl is released from her collar. She stays still, her wide eyes unblinking as she searches the now-silent crowd. She is beckoned to the front of the stage and she follows obediently. There floats a nymph with a dark tail and an odd face. The thing that catches me about him is that he doesn’t have the ‘ears’ or rather, ‘ear flaps’ that we do. Instead, there are small holes. As if he could feel me staring, he turns towards the crowd and looks in my general direction. I know it is impossible for him to pick me out of the thousands of creatures here, but his shallow eyes seem to meet mine with a cold expression I can’t place.

My eyes pull back to the girl just in time to see her tail sliced off.

I can hear her screech bounce through my mind as if she is right next to me. It rattles my bones right down to my stomach. Before I can process what I’m doing, I launch myself away from the square and propel myself as fast as I can back to Morden. My stomach is churning, and my gills on either side of my chest burn.

I take one last look back to see the other nymph being pulled to the guillotine-esque tool with the same absent look in his eyes.

I can feel the pull happening once more, but I turn away and let the scream hollow my bones again.

Staring at my work that I had done the previous day is doing nothing. I can’t think, much less breathe. I have visions of those people, innocent or not, it’s bothering me. It’s their look, the vacant stare. It reminds me all too clearly of Katherine at her end, how all hope she had had been ripped away from her. She was nothing but a walking corpse.

I would have turned out the same way, had I not escaped. If I  _ only  _ did things differently…

“How is the door coming, Verus?” Morden appears at my side, a hand coming to rest on my slumped shoulder.

I shrug him off and wave my tablet at him instead of replying.

He hums, “Same calculations, came notes, if I didn’t know you better I’d say you haven’t done a thing in the past few hours. Do I dare remind you we are on a timeline?”

I nod and continue to stare at the notes, pretending not to see his growing frown. 


	10. Chapter 10

“Radie altanin.”

I groan, and slap my head against the gold a brisk three times before saying, “I told you fuckers not to talk to me while divining, how hard is that to understand?”

I don’t bother to give the guards more attention, that is until I feel a familiar tug in my chest.

I half-turn, and freeze. My jerk away is far too late before several hands are on my neck and face, pulling me aside and into a bag. I flap my tail violently and find my efforts rewarded. I hit one of my attackers in the face.

It takes one second for me to say, “Fuck me.”

Then I find myself screaming. A knife slices my fin in two, and with one simultaneous blow to the head, my world explodes into colour.

Not much makes sense after that.

Yelling- surely. Maybe whispering. Certainly swearing on my behalf. There is movement but I find I can’t fight it, the pull keeping me docile when I am anything but. Fear creeps up my throat as I hear their voices rising, and our swim comes to a slow stop. This is perfectly fine, wonderful even. Everything is just fine and dandy. I will escape, I always escape eventually.

They grab my fin, which still is emitting searing pain through my body. I yelp, and they tug me free of the bag. At the first moment, I land my fist into the man touching my fin’s jaw. He groans, and in reflex, lets go. If I swim away, they will catch up, but that's the best chance I have.

My stomach plummets as I try to beeline away. My tail isn’t much use, each beat sends tears to my eyes. I look around, deciding to use my voice for good and begin calling for help. I can’t see anything. Not even the city’s faint glow. All around me grows darkness as I swim as fast as my tail will allow.

As expected, within a few minutes there are hands around me and with a snarl, my head is hit again. This time, darkness comes swiftly and I know that I won’t wake for a long time.

When I do, I am not surprised to find myself in a cage.

“Hm, wow. Never been inside of one of these before,” I stay floating like I am still taken by sleep.

Another voice, deep and foul, speaks up. “You trap others?” The voice may have been frightening had It not sounded like someone spitting out a wad of mucus.

I could hardly contain my delight at this person’s utter lack of knowledge in the art of sarcasm. “Why yes, Do you not? Why I had thought it was common practice.”

He seemed to consider, then replied, “Yes. We have many. It is why  _ they  _ asked you here.”

“I can hardly call what  _ they _ did as asking…”

“You deserve what you got. An outsider does not belong in our waters.”

I thought about this and said, “Then why do you talk so much like one?”

As if in response, another voice piped up. High pitched and nasally. If I turned around I would see one figure, cloaked in black with a long sword strapped to his hip. Another, swimming towards me with fine, glittering fabric that seemed to be unaffected by the water, flowing as if in wind.

The language that they exchanged is unknown, and soon glitter and I are left alone in the cavern room.

“Radie altanin, you will listen.”

I sigh and open my eyes, glaring at him sideways. Not like I have much of a choice, I think without feeling bitter at all.

“These people come into our home. They take what is ours. They hurt our families for no reason,” With a shaky breath he continues, “Our brother saw what you were. The stories shared with the outsiders tell of people like you. You will get our things back, and in return, you will live and go back to your master.”

I wait, in case he wanted to continue his sob story, and when he doesn’t, I unclench my jaw. “First- and if I may ask a few questions?”

He nods.

“First- you could have just asked. Like, I think my wound is infected and I can hardly move. Seriously, that was a little overkill.”

He shrugs, the fabric sliding off his head and drifting to his shoulder. His scales reveal to be light orange like I would see at the very beginning of a summer sunrise. I shake my head, hating the way I want to go to him despite my pain.

“Second- who are the people stealing from you? And what are they stealing? Third- who the hell is your brother and who are you? Fourth- I want contact with Morden  _ right now. _ ” I realize that I revealed my ignorance too soon, as I watch a smirk creep across this bastard’s face.

I come to the quick decision that no matter what they do to me, I won’t do anything until I can speak to Morden.

… which is a decision I came to regret. 

I don’t know how much time has passed, but neither I nor glitter has learned anything. I am seeping blood, as is the pretty little knife he flips between his fingers.

“You are what they said.”

“I’m guessing,” I gasp, “you mean utterly handsome?”

The scream I release rings in my head for minutes before I can process what dear body part of mine he has taken off. 

He steps back from me and once again says, “You will do what we ask. And you will do so compliantly. Swear it in blood.”

And I again reply, “Morden or nothing at all.”

I close my eyes, expecting another slice or a missing finger, but this time he steps back with a curious expression on his face. His ears stand up on end and vibrate until I can’t see them any longer.

After a moment, he speaks with reluctance, “Our brothers have spoken. You will be allowed to talk to your master.”


	11. Chapter 11

Turns out they weren’t much allowing it as being forced. Even underwater, Morden has this invisible string attached to me. As we grew closer as Liaison and Councilor, and our late nights lengthened, our ideas started to swap at all times. If I dared take longer than a few hours to reply, he would phone or in a dozen cases, show up at my doorstep near frantic with too much in his head. It has, and always will be a burden, but as I am dragged in chains through a cavern that is grander than any mansion I have ever seen, I’m grateful.

“Introduce yourselves,” He commands, without preamble.

The guards drag me close to a wall. I do a half turn and sigh. They have hooks for the chains. I am going to be chained to a wall like a dog. I sink to the floor and glare at the nearest doorway.

Seconds after, A nymph who looks much like the one who tortured me waltzes through said doorway. He’s also wearing sparkling fabrics, golden and near blinding. Yet, with his shallow white flesh and the slits he has for eyes, it suits him.

Morden asks again.

“Jem, Councilor Morden. It is a deep pleasure to meet you,” His ears vibrate, the jewelry in them sparkling from the floating lights.

Morden did not return any pleasures, “I ask that you release my Aid immediately.”

“You are not in any place to demand such things. Come, leave your guards behind and we shall talk in the study.”

Of course, I’m left behind, making weird eye contact with the floor and feeling just dandy.

It must have been hours. I fell asleep sometime in them, the cuts on my tail still stinging and my brain not registering where three of my fingers went. When I wake up, I’m being pulled back to the torture chamber. Panic crawls up my throat and I begin to struggle before a cool hand presses down on my shoulder.

“What did you do?” Morden asks once I’m pushed back in my cage. 

“You assume I did anything at all.”

One eyebrow begins to climb.

“I went to the city and saw them kill a couple of people. Then I left, that’s all.” I pretend not to hear the way my voice wavers, “Now why- why am I still in this cage?”

“You are going to do a job for them.”

As I go to pinch the bridge of my nose with my left hand I stop. Can’t exactly pinch with a thumb and a pinky. I let my arm slowly fall and see something in Morden’s face change.

“Verus…,”

I shake my head once, cutting him off, “What will I be doing?”

“The whole city has slaves, and someone has been hitting up the most powerful and influential houses. Taking and freeing them. They’ve been killing anyone they think that could be responsible. They want you to find who is doing it.”

I swallow and turn my eyes away from him and the bright lights that float near him. This is terribly ironic for me, someone who frees slaves when possible. It’s rather unfortunate that Morden would be incredible at this, he has always been the type that seemed like he would enjoy a good mystery.

For the sake of living, I put myself aside. And look at this the way I would as if conversing with Barrayar.

“What do I get in return?”

A small smirk touches Morden’s lips, “They have a way to get you your  _ tools _ \- or so they say. They are also willing to escort us and our goods safely to the surface.”

“That seems like a load of shit. I think I get to live.”

“That’s an added bonus.”

“Possibly a door- with a sprinkle of life.”

“Take a few, get one free…”

It went on for a while. The bickering, the conversation. If I shut my eyes it might seem like he’s on the other end of the phone and I’m lying awake on my sofa. Without noticing he slips into his own talk, spewing ideas at me without context.

“Sh-sh,” I wave my good hand at him, “I am thinking that ‘crown jewels’ isn’t a good idea, and ‘a person’ seems far-fetched. What I find interesting is how you keep referring to them as a council.”

He hesitates, “They are.”

“This place, it hardly seems the type. These people- the people who hurt me even- seem to be barons and the council seems to be the advisory. No one looks like they should be in charge. I haven’t met a single person who claimed they ran anything.”

“Are you saying it looks like a monarchy?”

“Looks like.”

Morden considers this and begins to pace, “Well that  _ might _ exp-.”

His circle of guards come in, looking bitter and uncomfortable. I offer them a small wave and a cheeky smile. They don’t return the favour.

“Ah, I believe our time is up then,” Morden says, glancing at me then turning towards his guards, “See you soon, Verus.”


	12. Chapter 12

I am released upon the world seventeen hours after being initially captured. I am not allowed any more contact with Morden until I solve this thing. If I want any chance of opening the door I need to get this done within the fucking day. I wish they had just kidnapped me first thing so I could have gotten this done first.

Floating through the city is surreal. The streets are empty and the windows vacant. There isn’t a voice or sound, no movement other than me and my bad-natured guards. The chains sway around us, letting the soft current somehow push the buildings back and forth. We wander past the site where I saw the executions, and a few streets down come to another house. It seems like the others, like a townhouse. Golden bricks are stacked up to create the outer layer, leaving room for some windows all the way around. Each side looks exactly the same, with a door allowing access in through every angle.

I divined what would happen if I walked in, and found I would meet two nymphs in the middle of having a heated conversation. One was as regal as the others I’d seen but had long winding hair that led all the way to its waist. The other was the executioner. A shiver trickles down my spine as I see that same, blank face with hardly any features. 

I decide to knock. 

We’re greeted and let in, but neither of them speak to us until all five of us have settled in uncomfortably in the dining room. Underwater, there is no need for chairs, so rather they have poles or ropes you can hold on to, to stabilize yourself. 

“Good morning, I am Mage Verus and I’m sure you know that I am here to investigate your missing slaves.”

The regal one nods, “That is an odd thing to call yourself.”

I pause, and without being able to stop myself, I snort. “Pardon?”

“Verus. We,” He gives a vague gesture that I assume refers to the river, “call ourselves by our magic. You are a radie altanin to us.”

“Dare I ask what that means?”

“You may not dare.” He waves his hand at the executioner, “This is Sauel. He will be your guide and will take you to the other houses, should you require it. Jem and I were the ones the most affected by the robbery.”

“Jem?”

“He hired you. I am Fru. You will meet the other three houses later- maybe.”

I don’t dare ask, but I do dare to kind of like him. Not in the way I like Luna, but in the way I like Cinder. I’d never trust him, but I would let him kick someone’s ass for me then give him a high five and run. I think for a moment where Morden is on that scale, then quickly abandon the project.

Sauel lingers in the corner while Fru tells me about the situation. A little under a year ago, someone began cutting slaves loose. It began gradually, then it came to dozens in one night. Jem began executing and torturing his staff immediately, which Fru seemed to think as juvenile. He began to place spies. They told him that it was more than one person, but they could not get their names or faces. Fru doesn’t say what happened to the spies, but with the way he looks at Sauel, I get the feeling they didn’t live long either.

“And what did the slaves say?” I ask.

There is a long, overdone pause between everyone in the room.

Fru leans forward and then back, “Pardon?”

“The slaves, you did ask them what happened, right?”

“Well… Well of course.”

“….”

“….”

“…….and?”

“And what?”

“And what did they say?” I grit my teeth.

“They lied, they told us that the people freeing them were like them.”

Again, I try to rub the bridge of my nose and again I find myself in pain. “How is that a lie?”

Sauel stands abruptly and gestures for us to stand as well. Fru follows and shakes my hand.

“Now you get to do the observing yourself… Verus.”

The slave’s chambers aren’t in the same building as Fru, it is a fair swim down the street and just as several dozen houses past, I can see the obvious differences in high class and low class. These houses don’t have windows, they are boxes floating in the ocean with one way out and one way in, and that is through the bottom with algae growing on the door handle.

I want to knock. These slaves never had any privacy or help- or much of anything, and if I can give them the opportunity to feel like they own something… Sauel opens the door and holds it for us. Once I swim inside, I feel like I am back in that small room with no light, one bed, and dirt for a floor. This place, of course, is much nicer, but the feeling is still the same.

By the time I’m escorted into the central chamber, I should have seen what to expect. Yet the sight of cages stacked floor to ceiling- chains attached to the walls- still makes me want to vomit. What makes my heart clench, is when I see their faces. Not nymph faces I realize- but mages. The sense of magic in the room is enormous. I can feel adepts, sensitives, life, death, fire, everything.

They haven’t been killing the people who cross the bridge. I suddenly realize with a heavy heart why Fru thought they were lying.

“Alright,” I turn to Sauel and the guards, “Leave me be and I will conduct my investigation.”

They all stare back at me with empty eyes, unmoving.

“I can’t work with you guys lingering around, and besides, where am I going to escape through? It's one door.”

That has them reluctantly moving out of the room, but not entirely. It’s enough.

I take a quick sweep around the room, picking out the people that might actually speak with me. There is a man chained to the wall, a woman who began crying softly when we came in, and another man looking rather nervous about this whole situation.

I float up, with a ghost of a smile on my lips. Not too much or he would think I am mocking him, but too little and he will see me as violent. My chest feels cold as I look upon him, remembering the way the chains felt wrapped around me too.

“Hello, I am mage Verus from the British light council. I have to ask you some questions.”

He eyes me up, lingering on my tail and fingers.

“Hi.” His voice is soft and so so quiet. Like the water would blow it away any second.

I start out simple, “What’s your name?”

“Azai, from Sweden.”

“Azai, good to meet you. You have beautiful English.”

“My master taught me.” In the future, he thinks about talking about him- about how much he missed his Master, his home. Then as soon as it is there, it is gone.

“I must ask what may be some very pushing questions, is that alright?”

He looks at me with curious eyes and swallows. “What if I say no?”

“Then I will leave you alone.”

“Oh. Oh. Okay. You can ask.”

As selfish as it is, I wish he said no. It hurts to look upon this man. There is no hope in his eyes.

“Are there people being freed by other mages?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who is doing it?”

“… what about those guys by the door?” He shoots a look over my shoulder with a grimace.

“They are the ones who gave me these fingers.”

He squints, “Lack of, it seems.”

I release a light laugh and when I meet his eyes again, they are wide with surprise.

“You really are human,” He whispers, “I missed human.”

“I know. But I do need to know who is freeing people- it depends on my life and many, many others.”

“What will happen to them once you find them?”

That has me stop. What am I supposed to say? Fuck me, fuck this. I was never supposed to be the bad guy. I was supposed to be freeing these people. Fuck.

He sees it and almost smiles. “I’m sorry, Verus. I can’t help you.”

“No- no. Don’t you ever apologize to me. You don’t deserve it.  _ I’m sorry _ , Azai. And if I can, I’ll try to get you out of here.” We both ignore the waver in my voice.

“I won’t hold you to it.”

I turn away from him and begin to the woman in the cage. I know that Azai gave some hand signal or another- because she won’t say a word. I don’t blame them. I can’t blame any of them.

… god, I wish I could sleep. I wish I would wake up and this would be a dream and I would be in Camden and I would be happy. But wishing doesn’t get anything done, work does.

The man in the cage doesn’t look at me when I approach. In the future, he has something to say, and I am willing to stay to get it out of him.

“Hello, my name is Verus. What’s your name?”

His tone is a blade on a sharpening stone, “You don’t really care.”

“I do care.”

“If you cared you would be helping free us- not working with them.”

My heart sinks, but I keep going, “I am not doing this voluntarily.”

“At least you aren’t in a cage!” He sneers.

I look over my shoulder and see that they have begun to chat with one another. I turn back to him, “You’re right, my cage I could actually stand up in. Though I was freed of that a few hours ago, so lets see if they downsize when I get back, eh?”

He stares at me like I’ve grown two heads. Damn if I feel like I haven’t. 

His voice is a tad softer, “What are they holding over you.”

“My friend.”

I say it automatically, but I realize that it’s partly true. Morden is at stake through this, and so is everyone I love. If I die down here, I have no idea what troubles it will cause everyone above.

He finally turns towards me, with a scruffy beard the jagged slits in the side of his throat are clear. It looks like they turned him into a mermaid halfway- much messier than the others around the room.

“Who is your friend?”

“His name is Morden. He is a junior councillor of the British Light Council. We were sent here against our will, it was a whirlwind mission. He would hate it- and I hate to say it- but I worry that my failure will get us both killed.”

He nods, “And how close are you to opening the door then?”

I open my mouth- then close it. His face grows dark, like a child who told a secret they shouldn’t have.

I go closer to his cage, “I’m not even close.”

He looks around the room and gets closer, “What would you do to get it open?”

“What are your requests?”

He draws a breath. “My child- she is trapped in Jem’s house. Her name is Yana, if you release her I will help you.”

“And how would you manage to do that?”

Slowly a side of his lip snakes up into a smirk, “I don’t belong here. Yana was taken a year ago. I got together a group and we got our hands on a shapeshifter, then went down to free her. Well- it’s been harder than we thought. But- we have heard about this door. One of the boys with us knows more about it than I do.”

“And if I do find Yana and free her, how will you escape to get your men?”

He smiles, “No wall can hold me, Verus.”

In an instant, his hand goes through the cage front and grabs my arm, yanking me towards him.

“So, do we have a deal?”

I get back into Jem’s custody by the time the waters are getting dark. I have less than an hour to find Yana, and an hour after that to figure out how to free her and get her to the meeting spot with her father,  Melnik.

We are meeting at the golden door, where we would do a swap. Yana, for his boys opening the door. If I do it right, the door should be open, and I can sneak back into Jem’s custody. From there I have no idea what to do, but I will have three days to figure it out.

They dump me back into my cage, which thankfully is the same size. The man who tortured me did not appear, but instead, Jem enters this time.

“Have you found the thieves?”

I shake my head, “I am close. But I need to talk to a few more slaves before I make my decision.”

Jem nods his head, “We will let you see the other three houses tomorrow.”

“Wait! Why can’t I question the slaves in your custody?”

He stops and lingers before sighing, “Yes, I suppose that would be efficient, wouldn’t it?”

I shrug and wait for him to call in the guards. Instead, he unlocks my cage himself and waves me forward. He swims so fast through the winding tunnels of his mansion that I nearly lose myself behind him. I try to count the turns but then rely on my divination for memory.

At last, we reach the slaves' chambers. Each slave has their own cell, much like in Richard’s mansion. But unlike, they are small. Barely an arms width across. I gulp as I enter, noticing how it is set up like the Roman Colosseum, with dozens of strange equipment positioned in the center. It looks like a medieval torture chamber.

I resist the urge to backtrack and leave, finding myself thinking that if Morden were here then this would be much less intimidating. I close my eyes for a moment and slow down, imagining him by my side. It doesn’t do jack shit.

“I will observe your methods as you question,” He says with narrowed eyes.

I look around, scanning the cells through their small windows. Melnik didn’t give me an in-depth description but I could get a sense of what she looked like based upon his distinct features. I only hope that she is still alive or has her face intact.

I start interviewing a few people, and ask the same boring questions and get the same boring answers. I can’t humanize them, I can’t attempt to be kind, not with Mr.stick-up-his-ass standing behind my shoulder.

“Do you have any idea who could be freeing the slaves?” I ask, monotone. I can tell Jem is getting bored, he’s beginning to look away.

“No,” a girl replies with angry, storming eyes. She turns her back to me and slams her shoulder on the wall, where I notice a thin, fake brick slide out to reveal a break between the two cells.

It took one glimpse through the hole to see a pair of clenched, brown hands to know that it’s Yana.

I turn to Jem, “Can you please close this cell and open the next?”

Jem frowns, “I think this has gone on long enough. You won’t find out who did it by going cell to cell, will you?”

“I must continue, it requires persistence.”

“No, you’ve done this enough.”

“What if the next slave is the answer? Or the next? You could be stopping your own success-,”

The slap is a dull thud in the water, but somehow it seems to echo. Or maybe that’s just the pain ringing in my ears. I think I’m done for as he grabs one of my ears and yanks my head towards him. I cry out in pain, but I find I can’t make a sound.

His face is in a sneer as he slowly twists his tight fist backwards. I feel the careful skin stretch and begin to rip.

“You will have one more. And for your childish mouth, you will have a night of agony,” His fist rips back and I slam my eyes shut as the tip of my ear is taken off.

He pushes me back and opens Yana’s cell. I keep my eyes squeezed shut as I grip the side of my head. It takes me two seconds to get myself upright and my divinations intact, and it takes Yana one second to drive the brick into Jem’s skull.

He jerks back, his head gashed open. He comes right into my open arms. I grab them and hold them fast. Before he can gather his magic, Yana ploughs the brick into his face a dozen more times before she lets it slip out of her fingers and float to the cave floor.

Her face is filthy, and her hair has grown long and tangled. Even the dirty can not hide how young she is. It makes my skin crawl.

She turns her eyes towards me, “You leave before I kill you too.”

“No.”

She hesitates. 

I continue, “I’m with your father, Melnik. He has been looking for you and helping others like you. I came here to find you. We need to go- now. I don’t think it will be long before they know what happened.”

She shakes her head, “Dad- but… I don’t… no. I can’t leave, I have to free everyone.”

I might have said many things like there is no time or it will be too difficult to sneak everyone out. Both would have been true. But in truth, we still have little over an hour and sneaking out just stopped being an option.

And besides, Vehelia may like to call me a white knight because she finds it funny, but it's fucking true.

I hold Jem’s body out to her and she finds the gate stone that unlocked her door and the rest. She would insert it, it would click open and I would open the door and give a brief explanation to the slave inside. This repeated nearly fifty times until we had an army of mages and sensitives behind us.

“Alright everyone, follow me!” I call the group and begin to swim forward into the chamber.

When I peer behind me, no one has followed. Yana growls, “Let's go, people! Kill anyone you see.”

After that it becomes chaos.


	13. Chapter 13

I remember thinking, fuck me this is it isn’t it? And then blacking out for a few minutes.

We escape Jem’s house in record time, leaving only a little over eighteen dead bodies. A little over meaning one poor sod lost an arm but he escaped with his life. Unfortunately for me, that sod also ran away with the rest of my ear and a rather large chunk of my shoulder. I found myself thinking as I dove for his blade that it wasn’t a good idea, but then again many of my ideas are horrible ones and they usually go according to plan anyway.

Anne is going to have a shit fit when she sees me.

Melnik gives me one look up and down, then goes straight to Yana. To be fair, I certainly wouldn’t want to talk to me either. A boy approaches me as a heartfelt greeting comes between the people in the crowd and the rebellion group. I take a quick look over the boy’s shoulder, to see several guards unconscious and in chains. 

“My name is Colten,” Colten says.

He looks like he is twelve and stupid, so pretty much me at twenty-one. The similarities are frightening. He has the same mop looking hair, and the almost buff shoulders with a long giraffe-like neck. 

“I am Verus. Are you the one with the information about the door?”

He nods, “Yes, let’s go somewhere less loud?”

We swim to the door itself and lean up against it.

“Spill,” I order, not really want all these people to stick around.

“Right- you Brits have an artifact and they have their monarch. That’s it.”

I take a good four second to sputter, “What?” And then eloquently continue, “How do you know about this?”

Colten nods, “Yeah well when I was first taken I was grabbed by some guys that were gossipers. I was their… well, I was with them for a while and they really heated all the barons. There are five of em’, and a council that does all the decisions and the like. Ya’ well they talked about how they wanted back order and how it was used to be and all that. Then a whole group of em’ got together and pulled the door to them or something- not sure how that worked but like the barons hated it and the council agreed to open it because they didn’t like the barons either but that was because of-,”

“My god, get to the point.”

“Sorry well- the king or queen or something is in there and they all want it out for some reason or another.” He shrugs and offers me a half-smile.

“And you just are this observant?”

“Well- uh,” Colten looks down than to Melnik, “He wanted all of us to learn more about it is all. Said it could be a tactical advantage.”

I try to pinch my nose, then smoothly cover it up with pulling my hand through my hair instead. How did Morden or the council not know about this? Surely the Egyptian government did, but they must have hidden it from us. And if the barons- or whatever they are- wanted power, why would they choose to open the door? I glance over at Colten, because surely he could answer that for me, but I realize we only have so much time to open this thing before someone finds us. I’ll do my history homework later.

I wave over Melnik to me.

“I delivered, now your turn. How are we doing this?”

He scratches his beard, “There are many ways. We can melt it, I can go through and collect the key for you, or we can use our mages to lift it open.”

“I need a minute- can you get everyone to hold still and not talk?”

His brows furrow, “Why, what are you going to do?”

I stare at him.

He stares back.

I stare at him.

He stares back.

I realize I may be more tired than I thought.

“Oh, I am a diviner.”

His face opens up, “Are you joking? A diviner! That would have been useful.”

Yana swims towards us, “What are you two talking about?”

I can’t help but growl, “I need everyone to shut up and standstill. Please.”

Melnik surprises me by nodding and yelling at his group to do as I asked.

The first run is easy. If we melt the door using the group of fire mages Melnik and Yana supply, then we would all boil. The second is a little more dubious. It would take longer since Melnik is the only space mage, and it would eventually work. But there is always an expression on his face that says he isn’t telling the whole truth.

The third option would take the longest, but it’s the safest option. They would open it; I would thank them and tell them to leave. They wouldn’t have any more business with me. That way I could get it open, and get them out of there as fast as possible. But still, nothing felt right.

I tell Melnik my decision and he calls his surprisingly large amount of force mages. There are twenty in his small group, the majority by far, and Yana supplies another four. With the help of the water and air mages, it will be just enough to open it a crack. I had undone the locking mechanism days before, so that’s no trouble.

It takes ten minutes almost on the dot. Everyone is waiting anxiously as it creaks open, and once it’s enough for me to slip through, I order them to hold it. A group of mages help Melnik and I chip a rock off the wall to use as a doorstop, and then everyone relaxes.

I turn to them, “Thank you very much for helping me, but I am afraid it is time where we have to say our goodbyes.”

Yana nods, and holds out her hand, “I’ll see you again Verus, hopefully in better circumstances.”

I take it, “I hope so too.”

Melnik smiles, “Since we helped open it, can’t we take a peek inside?”

“I’m afraid not, I have no idea what dangers are in there,” something about the way his eyes glimmer tells me that response isn’t enough for him.

He nears me, “I will go in there myself, no danger if it’s just one man.”

At this point, Yana is frowning. The slaves are looking more worn out by the second, but Melnik’s men seem to be drawing closer as well. Shit. Shit. Shit.

“I don’t want to risk compromising my mission. As a man on a mission to help your daughter, surely you could respect that.”

He grits his teeth, “Move out of the way, Verus.”

“I can’t do that, Melnik. Please don’t do this.”

And so he does it. He attacks me in a flash. His hand plunges to my face, nails digging into my eye socket, and with his other, he grasps my chest. I slam my tail into his side, only slightly stunning him. It isn’t enough to keep the future from happening. His hand phases through my skin and his fingers wrap around my beating heart.

“No! Stop it!” Someone cries, “STOP.”

I can’t move. Speak. See. Everything is a swirl of colour as I feel each and every pressure he clenches into me.

“Pardon me,” a soft voice sounds somewhere amidst the chaos.

His free hand wraps around my neck. He chortles as he phases in and out of my skin, making me finally, uncontrollably scream.

I’m still screaming when both his hands freeze in their actions. I dare to feel some sense of relief, that perhaps he’s done hurting me and he will let me go.

“Remove your hands out of Mage Verus, or I will cut them off.”

They stay where they are.

“Dad!” Yana’s voice sounds, “Dad, take them out!”

When they leave me, it isn’t a good feeling. In fact, it’s more painful then it had been when he put them in. It’s if someone hammered a nail into my bone, then let the bone grow around it, and then when it was all healed, they ripped it out again.

I let myself float where I am, my senses slowly coming back to me.

“Now, you and your cabal will leave and you will exit the Nile. If you do not follow my command, I will kill you and every single person here. Do you understand?”

I open my eyes in time to see Melnik nod, and to see Morden unwrap the arm which had been around his throat. Morden's lips are tightly pulled together as he watches them leave. He doesn't move a muscle until they are out of my futures, and likely his death sight.

Faster than I can keep up with, he is next to me, grabbing my face with both his hands. His tail brushes around mine and pulls me close to him.

“You got it open. Well done,” He says, after a moment of silence.

I blink, “You are doing a very good job of not being furious. I suppose that will come later?”

“When you are not stuttering like a fool, and shaking under my hands- yes. But you did what I asked of you and more. Even if it was in your usual… unconventional methods.”

“What are you even saying right now? You should be throwing me against a wall- threatening to kill me. I made this mission a hundred times worse for you- oh speaking of worse apparently the Nymphs king or something is behind this door and that why they want it so badly so yeah- this is a really bad scenario- oh and speaking of bad scenarios I got Jem killed. He was a baron? Maybe? Nothing is making sense I just-,”

“Sh, sh. I’m not going to kill you right now. Right now I have to deal with the liaisons, get our Pulse, and mind my own business about what they have behind this door. And I need to get my own liaison back onto land and to a healer.”

He fixes me with his dark eyes and pins me in my place with them. I have no choice but to nod slowly and follow him to a corner, where he deposits me and orders me to do nothing. I thankfully take it and let four days of needed sleep catch up to me.


	14. Chapter 14

“We are going home.”

I wipe the drool away with the back of my hand and groan. I flip over to check the clock and find some obscene hour that is exactly Morden’s style. I wish I could catch a fucking break, but knowing myself I would probably ruin it by doing something stupid.

“Now?” I mutter into the receiver.

“Yes. I heard you packing only a few hours ago, so you must be ready. We have no reason to stick around any longer,” He sounds drawn thin, his voice soft and lulled with lack of sleep.

I sit up and immediately fold so my head touches my knees. I make a noise like, “Agrck.”

Morden hums, “How are you feeling? Shall you need assistance moving again?”

Again, meaning that I collapsed in the hallway after my transformation and Morden had to carry me to my bed. What was more humiliating was that he was actually quite nice about it, other than the whole teasing me about it.

“I’m sure I can handle it,” I grumble, trying to sit up again.

The receiver goes dead, and I toss my phone to my nightstand. I grip the bed and stand up, toppling over on my shaky legs to the much more stable wall. The door joining our rooms clicks open.

“For someone who can see the future, you sure are bad at handling it.” 

I chuckle, “Time mage humour, I like it.”

He grabs my elbow and stands with me for a few dizzying seconds. I relax away from him and shoot him a glance.

“You look like absolute shit, Morden.”

“You’re just glad I took away your bathroom mirror.”

I snort at that, and I catch him almost smiling.

I walk over to my luggage, but he lingers close behind.

“My God, I can live without a personal bodyguard.”

“Ah, so that is why you are alive right now, yes? 

I sigh dramatically, “I wonder if your mockery is just a punishment for living.”

“No, it’s a punishment for you being an absolute fool.”

He opens my door and pushes me and my luggage outside while returning for his own things. He closes his door behind him and approaches me again, already offering his arm. I take a minute to look at him, without a tie or a jacket, his hair pushed back without gel. He must have just rolled out of bed as I did. I consider if he thought of how that appeared to me- that there must be some level of trust between us now.

“Verus? Still present?”

“Ha- another time joke. Hilarious.” I push away his arm and begin shakily to the exit. I don’t turn back when I say, “And it’s Alex to you.”

One lip carefully pulls up into what is not quite a smirk and not quite a smile as he replies, “Sure thing, Verus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for hanging out with me, and reading this! This was such a self-indulgent fic, I hope you guys liked it.


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